same AF system as the 5Dmrk3 on a 7Dmrk2? hmm.. thats huge jump from the 19 from before! sounds pretty awesome, but i guess it doesnt make it close to the mrk3. just because of sensor, FF, noise, etc. im liking how these higher end APS-C cameras are offering more bang for the buck. pretty exciting, but my eyes are set on the 5Dmrk3.

You're probably not far off the mark. Although, still a 1.6 crop, it would be vastly superior to the FF 5DmkII that is going for ~$2200USD right now. With the 5DmkIII at ~$3500USD, there is plenty of price point head room for the latest gen 7D.

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In landscape photography, when you shoot is more important than where.

Those specs sound credible. And if so, the 70D looks a lot like the old 7D.

It doesn't just look like the 7D it is the 7D - they've just changed the name (inserted a 'zero' to make it xxD)

Why would Canon introduce so many new camera bodies with the same basic sensor? They'll just start to cannibalize their own product range, or have the 'marketing' people totally taken over (given that their R&D spend has dropped from 9.5% of sales in 2009 to 8.5% in 2011, plus the more recent lower figure according to their latest Annual Reports & Accounts, includes a growth in spend in 'Office' & 'Industrial' divisions, hence their 3rd division 'Consumer' which includes DSLRs must be really falling big time).

It is all 'form' over 'substance'.

Yes, They will discontinue it. Its logical. They discontinued alot of stuff recently if you've noticed. It would not suprise me that they discontinue the 7D for the New 7DII. Drop in a 0 and bam, 70D and re-use alot of older fabrication stuff to stretch the design until they release the 80D. Which will really be a new design.

They will discontinue the 7D, When the 7DII sales are enough. Same happened with the 5D and the 5DMKII.

1 stop of dynamic range improvements isn't exciting to marketing. Doesn't mean much to the majority of consumers either.

They'll need to push buzz worthy features like: Built-in HDR (there is their sensor DR fix), and cutting edge video features like 1080p 60fps super slomo effects. Doesn't the Nex-7 have this? Then other "features" to make you think you NEED to upgrade.

Otherwise, why update an already great camera?

1080 at 60p... that would be nice for many out there for sure.

If the 1dx or 5d3 doesn't have it, i wouldn't hold your breath on that one...

I don't know about that. The 5DII didn't have 60fps @ 720p, or duel digic 4, or the fps of the 7D, or the focusing system....

It's an aps-c camera. Isn't it easier to render that speed on a smaller sensor? I'm not saying this as a "wish-list" type of thing, (I rarely shoot video) I just think Canon knows how to market.

They won't compete in DR and pixel peeping sensor nonsense, they will compete with their new market position:

The leader in HD-SLR modern day still/ motion image capturing devices. All the hottest directors and blockbuster films are using them! You can too!

It's a tad too early to tell... 5d3 files are far more forgiving than 5d2, even in raw... There is a slight improvement in sensor but also the digic 5+ comes in the the rescue, and whenever you read the propaganda in canon's PR, digic processors help low light improvement with no specification to jpeg or raw. It is what it is. Raws or Jpegs, I dont see any reason why there CANT be improvement to both either by digic or sensor improvements/algorithms/whatever.

Astro

It's a tad too early to tell... 5d3 files are far more forgiving than 5d2, even in raw... There is a slight improvement in sensor but also the digic 5+ comes in the the rescue, and whenever you read the propaganda in canon's PR, digic processors help low light improvement with no specification to jpeg or raw. It is what it is. Raws or Jpegs, I dont see any reason why there CANT be improvement to both either by digic or sensor improvements/algorithms/whatever.

i don´t see how the DIGIC (any) should improve noise on RAW images.the DIGIC processor comes after the sensor readout in the chain, at least i think so, and for a RAW files there should be no in camera processing like NR, sharpening etc.

but there is not much in-depth info on the net... so if im wrong and someone could enlighten me i would be happy.

I would wonder if the 7DII would maybe then be a full frame camera at 18mpx? If we make a rumor stew here and combine the rumored entry level FF camera, with the rumored 5dIII AF in the 7DII - then we could have a viable separation between the 7DII and 70D. All your xDs are FF, and all your XXDs are APSc.

Why would Canon introduce so many new camera bodies with the same basic sensor?

I guess they're recycling their sensor all over again because they simply cannot do better on aps-c. If the 18mp is not a recognizable advancement over the current generation - like 2 stops noise improvement or 2 stops dr or 1+1 - Nikon/Sony clearly has the edge for some time to come.

I think with the 7D being an actual real product that you can buy now and have been able to buy the the last few years that we can safely assume that Canon are less worried about keeping single digit xD cameras for full frames exclusively than some fans are.

I used to think that they wouldn't change an established line's sensor size but the 1D4 -> 1Dx and G12 -> G1x seem to show that it might be possible although if that were the case we'd see a 7Dx instead of a 7DII.

So my thoughts are that we'd see a 7DII and 70D as described in the rumour with the 7DII at $2500; if the 5DIII jumps $1000 for pro grade AF, I think the 7DII does as well.

zaphod

My guess is that the 70d will be the body of 60d but the specs of the 7d. And the 7d mkII will be about the same as the 7d but with (a single digic5+ and) improved capabilities for movie mode and perhaps 10 - 20 frames per second(why not) in frame mode, full (18Mpx) resolution. That would attract the photographers that currently need the 7d. Hey! We're only speculating.

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DB

The new 70D and 7DmkII (if we see one) will have to compete over a long 2 yr or more product life cycle with the D5200 and D7200 -- and D400 (if we see one). I think it is more plausible that we will see a new sensor in the XXd and Xd -- either an actually new and improved 18MP sensor that really does have lower-ISO DR improvement and high-ISO performance that are demonstrable for marketing -- more likely with something like a 21 MP count to compete with the Nikon products with their higher MP counts. Then the T5i would finally get this new sensor a year or so from now.

Expecting a dusted-off 18MP sensor to compete for the next two years or so is not a compelling marketing plan.

Ask a 'marketeer' what would they rather list as the new features in the future advertisements for the 7D Mark II?:

(a) A new improved 18MP sensor with clean images up to ISO 3200 and a DR boost from 11.7 to say 12.5

OR

(b) The same old dusty sensor but with a RATE button, continuous AF in video mode, 1080p @ 60fps, a flip-out screen, and some in-camera HDR functionality (basically an articulating LCD + a lot of 'zero' cost firmware updates - that's zero cost in terms of manufacturing).

Answer: "99 out of a 100 marketing people who expressed a preference, thought that (b) was a nice list"

Those specs sound credible. And if so, the 70D looks a lot like the old 7D.

It doesn't just look like the 7D it is the 7D - they've just changed the name (inserted a 'zero' to make it xxD)

Why would Canon introduce so many new camera bodies with the same basic sensor? They'll just start to cannibalize their own product range, or have the 'marketing' people totally taken over (given that their R&D spend has dropped from 9.5% of sales in 2009 to 8.5% in 2011, plus the more recent lower figure according to their latest Annual Reports & Accounts, includes a growth in spend in 'Office' & 'Industrial' divisions, hence their 3rd division 'Consumer' which includes DSLRs must be really falling big time).

It is all 'form' over 'substance'.

Yes, They will discontinue it. Its logical. They discontinued alot of stuff recently if you've noticed. It would not suprise me that they discontinue the 7D for the New 7DII. Drop in a 0 and bam, 70D and re-use alot of older fabrication stuff to stretch the design until they release the 80D. Which will really be a new design.

They will discontinue the 7D, When the 7DII sales are enough. Same happened with the 5D and the 5DMKII.

Canon has not discontinued the 5D Mark II camera. Indeed, they made a point that they would not be discontinuing it for some time as it fulfills an important gap in their DSLR product line-up i.e. FF body < $2,000.

If others are correct here, that Canon will price the 7D successor @ $2,500 then why not leave the old 7D in the line-up at roughly half the 7D2 price? That way, Rebel users who wish to shoot sports/wildlife have an affordable APS-C body to upgrade to.

That way, Rebel users who wish to shoot sports/wildlife have an affordable APS-C body to upgrade to.

I don't think Canon is in the business of being nice to wildlife shooters... on the contrary: Esp. for sports shots, you need a rather expensive lens even on a crop body, so these photogs should be able to shell out some $$$ for a body, too. Esp. if you see the 7d2 + shorter lens as an alternative to a 1dx + longer lens.